Enzo Ferrari’s passion may have been racing cars, but by 1950, he had begun to accept that exclusive road cars were needed to finance the company’s growing competition efforts. Early Ferraris for the street were built in very small numbers, usually to special customer order, with no attempt made at standardization. A significant change occurred in 1954, when the Pinin Farina-designed 250 Europa debuted in Paris. It was Ferrari’s first true production model and would form the foundation for all future Ferrari 250 models. These included the second series 250 GT Europa, again designed by Pinin Farina.

At the time of the second series’ unveiling, Pinin Farina was in the process of building a new, much larger production facility and did not yet have the space to build the larger quantities of cars that Ferrari was requesting. Accordingly, the design they created was handed over to Carrozzeria Boano, headed by one of Pinin Farina’s designers, Mario Felice Boano. Boano proceeded to build 67 cars, which had slight styling alterations from the five cars that Pinin Farina had already built, the most notable being a lower wing line. When Boano’s namesake moved to Fiat in 1957, Ezio Ellena, his son-in-law, took over production, now under the banner of Carrozzeria Ellena. Ellena, too, made minor cosmetic changes, in particular a raised roofline, prompting the use of the terms ‘Low Roof’ for Boano bodies and ‘High Roof’ for those by Ellena.

Originally finished in Grigio with Rosso interior, this ‘Low Roof’ Boano coupé was delivered to Milanese publisher Giorgio Mondadori in the spring of 1957. It was exported from Italy to England in the late 1960s, and by the following decade was exhibited in Jim Baxter’s Lark Lane Motor Museum in Liverpool, finished in red with a tan interior. Mr Baxter maintained the car for many years, during which time it was mentioned in the April 1986 issue of Thoroughbred & Classic Cars and appeared in the Ferrari Owners’ Club England roster with registration ‘EPD 27 B’.

Later the Ferrari was owned by Jean-Roger Bossut, of France and Belgium, and in 2007 was seen during the Ferrari 60 Relay event in Reims-Epernay, France, now registered in that country. Subsequently it was Ferrari Classiche certified, and afterwards, in 2012, cosmetically restored in a pale silver-blue metallic, Argento Auteuil Metalizzato with a grey roof and tan interior, as it appears today. Reportedly it also received a rebuild of its original engine by noted marque specialist Terry Hoyle in December of 2017.

Beautifully presented and lovingly finished, with Ferrari Classiche certification, this gorgeous Ferrari coupé represents one of the most elegant designs on the 250 GT chassis.